It’s no secret that Maggie Greene has turned into a capable ass-kicker in The Walking Dead Season 3 – she begins the series kicking ass with the best of them, and even makes a good fist of holding out in face of The Governor (David Morrissey)’s not-so-tender ministrations.

“Yeah, Maggie steps up as a role this season as one of the most able-bodied members,” explains star Lauren Cohan, talking exclusively to SciFiNow, “so we do see Maggie stepping up as a powerful arm, and also as a speaker in the group.

“She’s strong, she’s always had these strong instincts as this down-to-earth Southern girl, but she really gets to find out what she’s made of, and I think a lot us do. And that’s kind of the topic of the show – if it was you, what would you do? How would you survive?”

Obviously Cohan is no stranger to action scenes thanks to her recurring roles in Chuck and Supernatural, but with the level of gore and the visceral special effects on The Walking Dead being what they are, the actor is as surprised as we are that she’s taken to it so willingly.

“I never knew i liked action so much,” admits Cohan. “I never knew I liked blood so much. I never knew… and now I’m addicted, and not in a Dexter kind of way!

“It’s fun… as you’ve seen in Episode One even fighting and pushing for your life, let alone the actual impaling… it’s exhilarating to run and to come face to face with a horde of zombies that you know you need to get through. It definitely brings out that barbaric instinct, yeah.”